April 12th, 2010 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Doctor Shortage, General Medicine, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform Plan, Healthcare System, Physician Happiness, Physician Opinion Survey, Physician Value, Primary Care
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By Stanley Feld MD, FACP, MACE
Sixty three percent of physicians are unhappy with the implications of President Obama’s healthcare reform plan. The government has reduced reimbursements arbitrarily over the last decade.
Physicians have had an underlying mistrust of government healthcare policy. Congress and especially Pete Stark mistrust physicians. Pete Stark feels all physicians game the healthcare system.
I believe there is some abuse of the healthcare system by a small percentage of physicians. I also believe congress has a lack of understanding of medical practice expenses, the value of physicians’ intellectual property and skill sets. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
April 12th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Americans, Federal Waiver, General Medicine, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, Healthcare Reform Law, Idaho, President Obama, Primary Care, Soak the Rich, States, Tea-Baggers, Tennessee, Wisconsin
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States are varying in their reactions to healthcare reform:
— Wisconsin is creating an office of healthcare reform to develop its health insurance exchange and explain changes to constituents.
— Tennessee won a court ruling to remove 100,000 from its Medicaid rolls.
— Leaders in 18 states vow to challenge the new law in court. But in Idaho, a challenger for the governor’s office proposes instead taking advantage of a federal waiver that exempts states that enact reforms that control costs and improve access better than the federal laws do. (Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, Kaiser Health News, Reuters, Idaho Reporter)
At the federal level, President Obama and supporters continue to try to sell the reforms to Americans while the opposition tries to figure out its next steps. “Soak the rich” might be one phrase to revive, but they’d do best to distance themselves from the tea-baggers, who have spiraled out of control. (The Hill, Los Angeles Times, USA Today)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
April 11th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research, True Stories
Tags: 5-HTP, Dream Water, DSHEA, Fall Asleep, FDA, GABA, General Medicine, Insomnia, Melatonin, Natural Ingredients, Natural Medicines, Natural Remedies, Naturopathy, Perfect Blend, Primary Care, Proprietary, Quality of Sleep, Relaxation, Secret Formula, Sleep Deprived, Sleep Medicine, Sleep Remedy, Tryptophan
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A new product, Dream Water, is designed to help one relax, fall asleep and improve the quality of sleep using the “perfect blend” of all-natural ingredients melatonin, GABA and 5-HTP (tryptophan).
A single-dose 2.5-ounce bottle retails for $2.99. They also offer a more dilute formulation in an 8-ounce bottle. They suggest drinking half a bottle, keeping it at your bedside, and drinking more if you wake up during the night.
What dosage will you get from half a bottle? From a whole bottle? There’s no way to know. They offer a money-back guarantee, free shipping, free samples, and lots of testimonials. But they refuse to disclose how much of what is in their product. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
April 11th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Banner Health, Cardiology, Cookbook Medicine, Denial of Hospital Privileges, Doctors, General Medicine, Greeley, Hospital-Directed, Hospitals, Loveland, McKee Medical Center, North Colorado Medical Center, Poudre Valley Health System, Primary Care, Standardized Treatment Procedures, Treatment Standardization
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Is the need for cookbook medicine being used as a ploy to bar cardiologists from practicing at competing hospital systems in Colorado? An excerpt from the Reporter Herald:
Banner Health, the owner of McKee Medical Center in Loveland and the operator of North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, soon will bar cardiologists who are not on the Banner payroll from practicing at the Greeley hospital. The denial of hospital privileges to cardiologists outside the Phoenix-based Banner system is the latest step in carving up the heart of the Northern Colorado health care market, where two dominant hospital groups — Banner and Poudre Valley Health System — vie for shares. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
April 11th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
Tags: Best Medical Care, Doctor, Friendly, General Medicine, Good Medical Care, Level of Concern, Op-Ed, Patient Satisfaction, Physician, Primary Care, Survey
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A version of this op-ed was published on March 15, 2010 in USA Today:
If you recently saw a doctor, you might subsequently receive a survey in the mail asking whether your physician was friendly, spent enough time with you, or showed the appropriate level of concern for your medical issues.
Read the rest of article here: Op-ed: Patient satisfaction doesn’t mean the best medical care
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
